


Fear Itself

by f_romanoff_13



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers team - Freeform, Fear, Gen, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Memories, Nightmares, scared
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-21
Updated: 2014-04-18
Packaged: 2018-01-13 07:49:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 12,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1218289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/f_romanoff_13/pseuds/f_romanoff_13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Avengers undergo experimental treatment to try and improve their field world. It seems to work... At first. But the team become trapped in a world where their nightmares might kill them, and some of them have a lot more to fear than the others.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> As always, my work is all un beated so all mistakes are my own and I apologise in advance for them!  
> The Avengers and all related characters belong to Marvel, even if I do spend enough money on them that I should own at least a little bit ;)
> 
> Your lovely comments make my day, so please be generous :)
> 
> _*This author is now back at uni, all uncompleted stories are still in progress and i will still be working on them, however it may be a while between updates, sorry!*_
> 
>  
> 
> So this is another fic I started and had been sat on my laptop for several months waiting for me to delete or continue, so here you guys are  
> Enjoy! ~ F

"Fury, I already told you; **I won't do it** "

"This isn't up for debate Romanov"

"I said no"

"Romanov you will be in medical along with the other Avengers at 0600 hours tomorrow morning!"

"Fury I-"

"And that is an order Romanov"

Natasha stormed out of the directors office, slamming the door behind her. She passed her five teammates and didn't stop until she reached her room.  
They'd been forced to stay on the hellicarrier overnight (probably to prevent Natasha from not turning up and going AWOL), and the team had all been assigned a room; so it wasn't her room as such, but the room she'd been temporarily assigned.  
As much as she would never admit being attached to a place or belongings, all she wanted right now was to curl up in her own bed surrounded by her books back at Stark tower...

There was a slow knock on the door a few moments later, and knowing exactly who it was; she called; "come in"

"Natasha, I-"

"No need to apologise Coulson. It's not your fault"

"The council are pushing for this, you understand?"

"It's wrong. It's just- backwards"

"I know, but Fury asked the others, and four of them voted to go ahead with it"

"They're morons"

"Agreed"

"Which four?"

"Who do you think? Clint sided with you, although he doesn't seem overly devastated they're going ahead with it, so I'm assuming he did so just to support you"

She smiled a little at that, she could always count on Clint. He knew her better than she knew herself sometimes...

Shame the others weren't so thoughtful. This was a bad idea, she just knew it.

"They've tested it by the way. They've successfully trialed it on numerous occasions with no noted side effects... If that makes you feel any better?"

"Thanks, but no; it doesn't"

"I know why you're so reluctant Natasha, but Fury wouldn't let anything bad happen to you, to any of you. You just need to remember that"

"If you don't mind Coulson, I'm just going to go to bed and try to get some sleep"

"Sure, I'll be right outside..."

"Standing guard?"

"Natasha, I'm sorry"

"I get it, Fury doesn't want me to bolt and mess up his stupid plan"

"Something like that... I thought it'd make you feel better if it were me..."

"I do" she offered him a little smile; she really was grateful. He took it as her ending the conversation and took his cue to leave;

"See you in the morning"

"Six am sharp" she deadpanned, and Phil offered her a gentle smile

"You'll be fine Natasha; I'll be there to make sure"

"Thanks Phil"

"Goodnight, Natasha"


	2. II

The next day Natasha (begrudgingly, and after much coaxing from Clint and Coulson) joined the other Avengers in the medical wing.   
A large ward had been cleared of personnel to allow Doctor Hart and his team, to perform their work in private.

Fury glared at the three of them as they entered the room late, Natasha rolled her eyes and received a grin from Agent Hill; the only other person permitted to be in on this meeting.

They took their seats at the large round conference table which had been brought up here for the occasion, and Dr. Hart began his speech;

“The aim of ‘Project Decoy’ is to enable the six of you to share a psychic link while out in the field; removing the need to rely on electronic communication devices, I know you all have some concerns, so anyone have any questions?”

All eyed shot to Natasha, but she kept quiet for now.

“How do we turn it off?” Tony asked, he was clearly excited about it.

“Practice, it’s like using any conscious though process. It’ll just take a few days to get used to”

“Why is this so important again?” Clint asked, more for Natasha’s benefit than his own

Doctor Hart glanced nervously over to Director Fury, who sat forward in his chair; “You know very well why Agent Barton. On too many occasions have your com units been lost or damaged, found by captives or failed to transmit a signal, just last month your mission in Nairobi was compromised because someone hacked the transmissions. We almost lost you, and then Romanov when we sent her in after you” Fury answered, he was getting fed up of people questioning his actions

“How does it work?” Bruce asked, he’d been unsure of the whole thing until he’d seen the design of the drugs, and even he had to admit it looked genius.   
But he needed reassurance one last time

“The drugs emit a resonance that connects to one another; you can learn to control it; so the link is only present when you want it to be. If you practice enough, you’ll be able to connect to just certain members of the team” Dr. Hart responded proudly

Now Natasha spoke up;  
“Is there a way to remove it when it all goes wrong?”

“Is there- ... Wrong?”

“Wrong” she repeated slowly, and when she didn’t get a reply she elaborated; “Amiss? Not to plan? Goes south? Awry? Goes to shit..?”

“Erm, Agent Romanov, there- there is” he stuttered

“There’s no way to reverse it is there?” 

“It has- It’s been successfully trialed”

“So I’ve heard, but you don’t know how it’s going to react with the super serum or the arc reactor, what affects it might have on Thor, or how the Hulk is going to respond to having other people chattering inside his head” she didn't mention that her brain had already been played with more times than she'd like and wasn't keen to see if this new drug would affect her in a different way than intended

“Agent Romanov that is enough! Those variables have been taken into consideration” Fury informed her sternly

She knew he was under a lot of pressure, the council were pushing for this; and that fact alone made Natasha uneasy, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t be angry at Fury. She was basically being forced to undergo a medical experiment she didn’t consent to, and this reminded her all too clearly of her past.

“B-before we go ahead with the p-procedure, we will perform brain scans and r-run some tests to ensure it is s-safe to p-proceed” Doctor Hart informed them, he was clearly faltering under Natasha’s deathly glare and was eager to end the confrontational meeting.

 

Hart’s team set about gathering their data; blood pressure, pulse and temperature. They took brain scans and blood samples, recorded EEGs and collected confidential data from their Shield files and medical history. Their tests took the better part of the day and Dr. Hart successfully avoided Agent Romanov for all of it. 

They all took a break for dinner before the team underwent the procedure. It was simple enough; they were first injected with a sedative, before the newly developed drug was administered. It would take a few hours to take effect and they’d need to be kept under close observation during that time. They then wouldn’t be able to leave the unit until they’d mastered the control of their new abilities. 

 

The following morning Tony woke with a banging headache, his vision was blurry and he was instantly sick. He head a familiar sigh from beside him as someone wiped his sweaty forehead with a cloth.

“Pepper?”

“I’m here Tony”  
He forced his eyes open and waited for them to refocus

“Did it work?”

“They think so, though Thor and Steve are the only ones awake so they haven’t tested it yet. How do you feel?”

“Hungover” he told her, sitting up from his hospital bed.

Bruce, Clint and Natasha were all still passed out in theirs, while Steve and Thor were in a separate room talking with some doctors

“How’d you get in here? I thought this was all top secret, need to know bullshit?”

“Hill let me in, Fury wasn’t pleased but seeing as how I knew all about Project Decoy anyway he didn’t see the harm”

Clint started to stir from across the room, muttering Natasha’s name as he came round. Tony scrambled to his feet and helped his friend focus on fighting the drugs still dragging him down.

“You okay Legolas?”

“My head”

“Yeah, it hurts for a little while”

“Where’s Tasha?”

“She’s not awake yet, her and Bruce are still out of it”

Clint swung his legs off the bed and stood uneasily; he stumbled the few steps to the seat by her bed, cupped her hand in his own and rested his pounding head by her side.

 

It was another few hours until all of the Avengers were up, and their heads clear enough for the doctors to run their tests. Bruce was the last one awake, and had bolted to his containment cell for fear the Hulk would make an unwanted appearance. He managed to keep control and once his killer headache finally shifted; he joined his team (and Pepper) for lunch.

“Miss Potts, we need you to leave now if you don’t mind, you may visit again tomorrow”

“Right, okay” she said her farewells to the team before kissing her boyfriend goodbye.   
She was secretly relieved as she swept her eyes over the six superheroes one last time before she left to take her plane back to New York; she had initially shared some of Natasha’s concerns, but Tony’s enthusiasm for ‘advancement’ had been contagious and she’d eventually agreed that it _might_ be a good idea.  
She just hoped they’d all master the skill required to only transmit the thoughts they wanted to, before they murdered each other.


	3. III

When Pepper returned to the hellicarrier the next day, the medical wing was in complete and utter chaos. 

The Avenger’s weren’t quite getting control of ‘filter’ aspect of their psychic link and were hearing every last though of the other members of the team.   
Bruce had run off and ‘hulked out’ in his containment cell while Natasha had secluded herself in the corner of the medical bay; as far away from everyone else as possible, she sat on the floor clutching her head in her hands. Clint and Thor were arguing, literally screaming at each other while Tony was desperately trying to take notes on anything of interest or blackmail worth he heard and Steve was trying to follow the doctors instructions, and focus on his own thoughts, block out the others and only allow certain bit of information through. They’d been at it for hours now and no one was making any progress.

When Pepper entered through the security doors it was just in time to see Natasha throw a beaker of liquid at one of the doctors and yell at them to stay away from her. She returned to her crouched position on the floor and closed her eyes.  
Pepper marched across the room, grabbed Clint by the collar and dragged him away from Thor; “Go help your girlfriend” she told him sternly, practically throwing him in Natasha’s direction. On her way back across the room she confiscated Tony’s pen and paper before ordering Thor to sit down. Turning to Dr Hart she asked “Where the hell is Fury?”

Pepper would have been the most terrifying woman he’d ever met, if he hadn’t just been threatened by the Black Widow that she was going to _‘bury him alive outside her house so she could hear him screaming’_

He pointed with a shaking hand towards the interview room they’d set aside to assess the Avengers individual progress (should they actually ever make any). 

Steve took the needle from Dr. Hart who was currently trying to take blood from him and handed it over to one of his assistants who wasn’t quaking like a leaf.   
Dr. Hart clearly didn’t cope well with strong minded, confident women; especially when said women were angry.

Pepper threw open the door and interrupted the meeting currently going on between Fury, Hill and Coulson;

“Mind telling me what’s going in here?” she asked, hands on hips and eyebrows raised.

Fury gazed past her to the room of Avengers where Thor was now hitting his head against the wall and the two master assassins were sat in the corner on the floor.

“Come in Miss Potts”

“It’s chaos out there”

“Yes, we had noticed” Fury told her as she joined them at the conference table

“What the hell happened? I thought this had been tested?” 

“It has, but on no more than two agents at a time!” Hill answered angrily, glaring at her boss

“There was no reason to think this would be any different, however the Avenger’s are currently being overwhelmed with the others thoughts and voices in their head. They’re not coping to well, we didn't plan for this. We didn't think it would happed” ...

 

Steve was beginning to make a little progress in blocking out the others, but no one else was.   
“I beg of you all, please just **be quiet!** ” Thor shouted. The incessant chatter and noise in his head was driving him insane.   
The thoughts Tony had been so interested in earlier were blurring into constant noise, his head pounded and he’d lay his head on his desk and closed his eyes in an attempt to block them out.  
Natasha was curled up in Clint’s lap, desperately trying to focus on reality _her reality_. There was too much; too much in her head and it hurt.   
Clint held Natasha tightly, all his attention placed on her slightly too fast heartbeat as he tried to drown out the chatter.   
The Hulk was not happy, he was angry with the noises in his head. And nothing he did, no matter how hard he hit or how loud he shouted, it wouldn’t go away. 

 

Dr Hart had joined Fury, Hill, Coulson and Pepper in the conference room to discuss the next step

“Would separating them help?” Pepper asked

“No, the point of the drug is to connect them when they’re in the field, it’s supposed to work across distance. Perhaps a staggered implantation should have been implemented in order to allow them time to adjust...” he thought out loud

“Oh you think?!” Hill responded sarcastically, causing Dr Hart to cower slightly

“What if we sedated them, four of them at a time and they worked on it in pairs?”

“You want us to knock unconscious four of our team of superheroes at a time?”

“Well, let’s be honest they’re of no use to us as they are sir”

“Okay fine, but who’s going to knock out The Hulk?”

 

Sedatives were administered to Thor, Clint, Natasha and The Hulk (they gassed the containment cell, rather than trying to approach him with a needle), allowing the team of doctors and scientists to work with the two who’d kept the most control when ‘Project Decoy’ had first been activated.

Steve and Tony sat opposite each other at the table while they worked on controlling their new skill. Occasionally Tony would smirk, or Steve could sigh at thought’s they’d heard from the other but after a few hours work it seemed they’d mastered it. 

“Who next?” Dr. Hart referred the question to director Fury, who looked over the three sleeping Avengers in the medical bay and considered the sleeping Hulk down the hall...

“Romanov and Barton” he answered a second later

“Sir, do you think it’s such a good idea?” Hill asked 

“Why not?”

“The two of them are in a relationship, being inside each others heads might do more harm than good” Pepper answered, breaking the unspoken truth. Everyone at Shield knew they were a couple, but no one voiced it out loud; everyone pretended, including themselves; Fury turned a blind eye and no one interfered. That was just how it was.

“Okay, Barton and Thor then”

It took them slightly longer than Steve and Tony, mainly because the argument from earlier re-erupted and the better half of an hour was spend shouting about Loki. They eventually (after a little mediation) settled the argument and set to work with Tony and Steve to control their new ability.

It was decided they'd wake Natasha next, and the four others worked hard to block her thoughts from their mind and block their thoughts from hers, she grasped the concept quickly and was soon able to control it herself. She breathed a sigh of relief that her head was her own space once again.

Then it was time to wake the Hulk. The excessive amount of sedative used to bring him down took a while to wear off, and then Tony worked with him alone to begin with. He managed to stress the importance of needing to speak to Bruce, and eventually the Hulk relented and shrunk back down to his former self.   
Bruce managed to get control of it faster than any of the others, and finally the six of them allowed to leave the hellicarrier to return to Avengers Tower.


	4. IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note, text featured within *" "* is part of a psychic communication, not spoken

The Avengers went back to the tower, with Pepper assigned to watch over them carefully; however everything went pretty smoothly... 

There were a few minor slip ups, and on more than one occasion someone sent the wrong thought to the wrong person, but on the whole Project Decoy was classed as a success.

At first it was difficult for them to control while they were sleeping; it was a common occurrence for them to wake up having experienced the others nightmares, but no one mentioned it; and with practice the issue resolved itself.

The psychic connection was first tested in the field by Clint and Natasha when they ran a Shield mission; it was a success, Fury was pleased and Dr Hart was thrilled with the results. Even Clint and Natasha were impressed with the results when their ability had helped them out of a difficult situation were even the best com units wouldn't have.

 

Tony used the new ability to trick the others more than a few times, and to wind them up even more:

“Tony, you know I can hear you right?”

“I know” he smiled at Natasha with a wicked grin

“You’re a pig” she told him, switching seats to sit on the other side of Clint

“You know this thing still works over distance; that’s the point”

“Oh I know, I just don’t want to sit next to you anymore”

Clint looked at her and her replying smirk was enough to make Tony worry

“Are you guys having one of your silent conversations like you used to, or are you actually having a conversation?”

Clint shrugged and went back to reading the newspaper

“You’ll never know” Natasha replied

-

*”Hey Steve... Steve... Steve... STEVE?”* 

“Tony, it makes it really hard to ignore you while you’re in my head”

“I know, it’s cool right!” 

“No!” Steve answered simply, before he turned and left the tower

*”Hey Steve, you can still hear me!”*

-

“Bruce, I need coffee”

“Go get some then”

“But you’re closer” 

“I’m busy”

“So am I”

“Well I guess it’s tough luck then”

*”Coffee”*

“Tony”

*”Coffee”*

“Tony!”

*”Coffee”*

...

"Tony, no"

*"But Bruce I need it... Pleassseeeeeee"* 

“Dammit Tony! Fine!”

 

After he successfully wound everyone up one too many times with his new ability; the team took a stand and didn’t communicate so he could hear they for three whole days, it drove him mad, especially when they’d all laugh and he was left wondering what was going on. Eventually he promised he’d only use the ability if it were absolutely necessary. Or he was particularly bored, and everything went back to normal round the tower... Well, as normal as it ever got...

Then there was one mission where Clint got kicked in the stomach; he was in the middle of a psychic conversation with Tony and it took Tony a few minutes to realise the pain wasn’t his. It was an issue Dr Hart hadn’t seen before, and something the six team members had to work hard on to control.

From then on it all went smoothly.  
It made the Avengers a stronger team; they were quicker, strong; united. Their missions were almost always flawless and the council were finally happy with them.  
Everyone was pleased with how it was going, and even Natasha had to admit that _maybe_ she had _slightly_ overreacted.

And that’s when it all went wrong...


	5. V

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Text featured within *" "* is part of a psychic communication, not spoken

It was a mission like any other; The Avengers were called out to Brooklyn when the latest super villain wannabe unleashed a league of zombies in the town.  
Patrick Nelson had been working for months for a research company looking at methods for treating atrophied tissues. He’d failed and the department had been shut down, but he’d discovered something else. Now he’d build an army of strong, powerful zombies who answered only to him.

*“These guys are surprisingly spry considering they were previously dead”* Clint commentated, taking a shot at a particularly vicious zombie clinging to Steve’s back

*“Oh come on Clint, this is hardly the weirdest things we’ve faced!”* came Natasha’s response

*”We know, we know... Budapest! One of these days you’re going to have to fill us in on that!”* Tony said, taking out three zombies who were attempting to break into the bank where a large group of civilians had taken refuge

*“Not a chance”* the two voices stated simultaneously 

Natasha quickly shot her widows bite at a group of zombies sneaking up on Clint as Thor’s hammer flew through the air taking out another couple

These zombies were proving more difficult to kill than first thought; only beheading or electrocution left them permanently dead; anything else and they just got back up again

*”Hawkeye, to your left. Left Hawkeye!”* came Steve’s worried voice, Clint turned just in time to step out of the way of an attack, but Natasha had heard the transmission and turned to seek out Clint, afraid he’d been hurt. He was fine, but the distraction was enough for one of the more subtle zombie to swing a metal bat and hit Natasha forcefully round the head; rendering her instantly unconscious

*”Widow is down!”* Thor informed the others, throwing Mjolnir at the zombie who’d hit Natasha. He landed by her side and picked her up, heading straight towards Shield as the others chattered away in his head:

*”Thor what happened?!”*

*”Is she okay?”*

*”What’s going on?”*

*”Thor?”*

He was too busy to answer; blood was streaming down Natasha’s head, dripping from her nose and ear. He could still head the sickening crushing sound the bat had made when it made contact with her head

Landing smoothly on the roof of Shield, he made his way quickly down to the medical level. Tony or someone must have contacted them already as Dr Hart and his team were waiting for them

Natasha was taken from his arms and whisked away down the hall, leaving Thor alone with his four other teammates chatter in his head  
Clint was beginning to yell, so Thor thought it was time to answer him; *”We have arrived at Shield. Your medical men are examining her”*

*”We’re on our way”*

 

By the time Clint stormed into the medical wing, the doctors were just finishing up with their scans and delivered their news to Coulson

“Coulson?” Tony asked eagerly

One glance to Clint, who nodded, and Phil told the team the news;

“Natasha suffered a major traumatic brain injury; they’re keeping her in a medically induced coma to help reduce swelling. They’ve intubated her to keep her oxygen stats up and are giving her anti-seizure medication. They’re hoping she remains stable or she’ll have to go in for surgery”

“What the fuck happened?” Clint asked angrily

“One of our adversaries managed to strike while she was distracted” Thor informed him gravely

 

Coulson debriefed the others there in the medical bay; he knew he had no chance of getting Clint to leave anyway. The zombies were all dead, Nelson was in custody and the other Avengers all claimed to have no injuries that needed medical attention (despite the fact Steve’s back was scratched to hell and Clint looked like he’d injured his shoulder)

They waited, and waited... Pepper joined them and they waited some more, but there was no change, which was both a good and a bad thing... At least she wasn’t getting worse

The others all went home eventually, leaving Clint alone with Natasha while they got some much needed rest

*”Tasha, I don’t know if you can hear me now, but I need you to get better. I need you, okay? I need you”*


	6. VI

It didn’t take long for Clint to give into exhaustion, he’d been awake for over 50 hours, waiting and praying for Natasha to make an improvement

The doctors kept a watchful eye on her, Dr. Hart appeared every so often; administering drugs or taking reading from the monitors.  
Clint could read his expression; he wasn’t hopeful... But Clint forced himself to keep calm, if anyone could get through this is was Natasha. She’d fooled them all before; a mission in Peru which remains the most disastrous mission of his career had left her in a coma for over a week, doctors told him there was no hope, she wouldn’t wake up and if she did there’d been irreversible brain damage... But she’d walked out of that medical bay two weeks later and was back on assignment in less than a month.

After two days, when the others finally left to get some rest, Clint eventually lay his head on the bed beside her; still gripping her hand in his, and he went to sleep.

 

The next morning Coulson went to check on the pair, taking a coffee and a sandwich for Clint because he knew the archer wouldn’t have left Natasha’s side in order to eat

“Clint... Clint?” Coulson tried to rouse him, but he always was a deep sleeper, especially when he was sleep deprived

He shook his shoulder, but nothing... So Coulson pulled him into a seated position; still nothing. 

“Clint! Agent Barton!” Coulson shouted, shaking him fiercely

Fury, Hill and Dr Hart walked in at that moment

“Phil, we have a problem” Fury informed him 

“You’re telling me! I can’t wake Clint”

“It’s not just him, Pepper just rang; It’s all of them”

“Is this a complication because of Decoy?” Phil asked angrily

“Possibly, we’re working on fixing it” Hart answered

“Well you better work fast! The Fantastic Four are deployed in England and our super team is currently unconscious, New York is defenseless” Hill informed the doctor, who cowered away from her gaze before nodding and scurrying off

“What do we do sir?” Phil asked

“A team has been sent to bring in the other four, all we can do for now is monitor them and wait for Hart to figure this whole thing out... The council are waiting for an update, so I get to go deliver the news. Coulson, Hill; keep your eye on them” and with that, he turned and left

“Well, this went downhill fast” Maria commented, watching as a group of doctors set up another five hospital beds

“Yeah, maybe Natasha was right”

 

Soon all six Avengers were in the same room, monitors beeping in synchronisation

Other than Natasha they were all stable; they were just out cold... Pepper was furious, Maria was angry (she’d agreed with Natasha all along and fought with Fury relentlessly to squash project Decoy before it was implemented) and Phil was concerned

“Give me some good news” Fury asked, returning from a meeting with the council that went less than well

“Erm...” Dr. Hart stuttered, he had a solution, but it wasn’t an option he thought anyone would like

“Spit it out Hart, we’re desperate here”

“The only way I can see to wake them up is to wake Natasha”

“Is that an option?”

“It’s doable, but I wouldn’t advise it”

“What are you saying Hart?”

“We wake Natasha, she probably won’t survive. We don’t wake her, the others remain unconscious”

Fury growled, he actually growled and several doctors and scientists subtly left the room

“That information does **not** leave this room. The council won’t hesitate to sacrifice one of them to get the other five back and that’s a price i’m not willing to pay”

Several nods of agreement came from the staff around the medical bay, before Fury left to lie to the council and inform them that they currently had no ideas

“Keep working, find us a solution” Hill instructed, before following the director from the room

Phil glared at the doctor until he went back to work, then he seated himself between the two assassins... Well, Natasha was right; it had all turned drastically wrong...


	7. VII

Tony was woken by an annoying prodding in his side. He tried to swat it away; his head felt like he had the worst hangover and his eyes were heavy with sleep, but the prodding continued so he tore his eyes open to see Thor inches from his face

“Man of Iron! You are awake!” he sounded relieved

Tony sat awkwardly, looking around at the strange place he found himself in; it was grey, just grey and nothing else; as far as he could see. But it didn’t look right, it looked like smoke; like nothing was solid, despite the fact Tony knew it must be because he was sat on something...

“Where are we?” Tony asked, hoping Thor would have more of an idea than he did

“I am unsure, this place resembles none I know”

“Great” Tony deadpanned, and then the obvious hit him; “Where are the others?”

Thor’s face dropped; “You are the only one I have been able to locate”

Tony closed his eyes to concentrate, but it wasn’t working; Thor realised what he was attempting and answered his unspoken question;

“Decoy doesn’t seem to work in this place”

“Well of course not...”

Tony stumbled to his feel and looked around, but it was just grey to each horizon

“How’d you find me?”

“It was purely by accident”

“Great, well we have some needles in haystacks to find my friend”

 

Pepper was pacing, and her nervous energy was rubbing off on Phil. Dr Hart was collecting pages and pages of data, so much so he and his team were swamped in it. The council had figured out what Fury wasn’t telling them and were pushing him to wake Natasha in the vain hope it’d wake the others. But every minute Fury bought them was a minute that might improve her prognosis, and a minute Dr Hart’s team had to fix this mess; so he kept stalling. Hill was working on recruiting other scientists and Phil had positioned himself to carefully watch his team:

He knew them better than most; he watched them closely, taking in their body language as they lay there; the slight frown on Natasha’s face, the worry lines more prominent than usual on Tony’s, the concern plastered all over Clint’s and the rising panic on Steve’s; whatever was happening wasn’t anything good...

 

Bruce walked through the darkness for what seemed like hours; there were no landmarks or anything to judge distance or direction; he could be going round in circles for all he knew. It was quite possible no one else was even here and he was alone; that’d explain why the psychic connection seemed to have disappeared... Maybe he was dead? Maybe this was his own personal form of hell? But it was possible his teammates were here as well, and they might need him; so he couldn’t give up... Not until he knew for sure.

He continued, and more than once he thought he heard his friends, but he was still alone and he was fast becoming tired; exhaustion overtook him and he needed a break. Taking a seat in the mist, he closed his eyes for what seemed like a minute but was woken suddenly when something painfully walked into him before falling over

“Bruce? Bruce!”

He tore his eyes open to see Steve on his hands and knees beside him

“Steve! Oh thank God!”

“Any sigh of the others?”  
“Have you seen anyone else?”  
They asked at the same time, taking the others question as their answer

“Are you okay?” Steve asked, referring to the fact he’d found Bruce curled up on the ground

“Oh; yeah. Just tired”

“You good to search for the others?”

Bruce nodded and climbed to his feet, politely ignoring Steve’s offered hand to help him up

“Are we sure the others are here?”

“I’d assume so, don’t you think this could be some sort of fallout from Decoy?”

“I don’t see why all of a sudden we’d end up... Oh”

“What?” Steve asked, stopping walking to turn and look at the scientist

“Natasha”

“What about her?”

“The head injury, Decoy, her history; this could be some sort of side affect related to that”

“We need to find her then”

“Yeah, and fast”

 

“Tell me you have something?” Fury demanded when he re-entered the medical bay a few hours later. Pepper jumped up from her seat next to Tony’s bed in order to follow the director into the attached science lab; he didn’t dismiss her so she took it to mean it was okay for her to be there

“Erm...”

“Come on Hart; you’re supposed to be the best neurologist we have”

“This is a result of Decoy, which seems to have been brought about by the treatment Agent Romanoff is receiving as a result of her brain injury. When the others went to sleep, they got dragged into whatever induced medical coma is keeping Agent Romanoff unconscious”

“So the only way out of this is to wake her?”

“Not necessarily, the readings show some are closer to consciousness than the others who seem to have been pulled in deeper, they may be able to fight it and wake up on their own”

“And that wouldn’t harm Natasha?” Pepper asked concerned

“Not as far as I can tell”

“No offense, but I wouldn’t stake money on your hunches” Maria told him bitterly 

Fury turned to the deputy director; “You get anyone?”

“I’ve got a few scientists coming in from England and China who reckon they may be able to help, as well as Jane Foster who’s flying in tonight with her intern”

“Wait what?!” Hart piped up, he looked almost angry that others would be involved in his project

“You thought we weren’t going to get more people on this Hart? That we’d leave it up to you and your team who promised us nothing like this would happen in the first place?”

“I erm- It was an unforeseen... I do not want to share my work with other scientists!”

“Well Dr Hart you don’t really have a choice. This is Shield’s top priority right now, we need out team back and we need them sooner rather than later so get back to work, Doctor Foster will be arriving in a few hours”

 

Clint stumbled through the fog trying to clear his head as he thought back to what happened; Decoy was a success, or so they had thought. Missions were going well, and then there was a fight and something bad happened... Natasha was hurt and she hadn’t woken up and then he’d ended up here. 

He was frustrated, his memory was patchy, his mind felt fuzzy; like someone had been messing in his head, and he was pretty sure he was going round in circles; he wasn’t going to find anyone like this and they certainly couldn’t find him. So he stopped, stayed still and tried to focus

Clint’s head felt heavy and his limbs were clumsy so it wasn’t long until he slumped back to the floor, and soon after he heard voices approaching, but he couldn’t see a thing. He put it down to his mind playing tricks on him but they came back, louder and clearer and he managed to force himself to stand again

“Clint? Clint is that you?” Steve called, strolling forward quickly leaving Bruce lagging behind

“Steve?”

“Clint! Oh am I pleased to see you!”

“First time you’ve ever said that to me” he laughed weakly

“First and last” he told him as he reached his side, Bruce soon joined them and half the team were finally reunited

“We need to keep going, we need to find the others” Steve looked at Bruce, and then at Clint to see the two of them were suffering more than he was. He felt guilty, but they needed to find the others and figure a way out of this

 

“Doctor Foster, Miss Lewis; thanks for coming”

“Well, you didn’t leave us much choice; you said the Avengers were in trouble?”

“Again” Darcy added, receiving an eye roll from both Jane and Agent Hill

Maria led the two women from the helipad down towards the medical bay where the Avengers were now held

“W-what? What happened?” Jane asked on seeing her boyfriend and his teammates all unconscious and strapped to various machines

“It’s all in here” Maria told her, handing her and Darcy a copy of all the research 

“You understand this is all strictly classified information” she told them before she released her grip on the files, she took an extra second to glare at Darcy before passing her her copy

 

“Tony? ... Thor? ... Natasha?” Steve called, over and over; leading the way through the never ending smoked

“Tasha!” Clint shouted, nowhere near as loud as Steve managed but he was determined, he would find her and they’d make it out of this... Whatever this was...

 

Tony was fed up of searching, he was tired and hungry and he was starting to think that maybe he and Thor were the only ones in this hell hole. He was about to say this to Thor when he heard Steve’s voice

“Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Thor asked, pausing to listen more closely

“Natasha? ... Tony? ... Thor?” they both heard it this time

“Captain!” Thor boomed, and there was no way they could have missed that

Three forms soon came into view, and Tony was secretly relieved; glad it wasn’t just the two of them trapped here

“We- we need to find Tasha” Clint panted, he was exhausted but he wouldn’t give up

Steve and Thor nodded solemnly, looking over the other three

“Should we go about the search while you three rest?” Thor suggested, rightly thinking it’d be quicker if it were just the two of them

“No, you’ll never find us again if we split up, we go together” Tony said, as much as he wanted to lie down and rest

Bruce and Clint nodded determinedly; Bruce slowly climbing back to his feet after taking a few seconds to sit down and regain some much needed energy

“Alright then” Steve began; “Which way?”


	8. VIII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it's just a short update today. But the next chapter is when it all starts to get into the plot and gets a lot more dramatic so the chapters should be longer from now on! :) Enjoy! ~F

Natasha had been here, wherever here was, for what felt like weeks; but there was no real way to tell; there was no day or night, no way to record the passage of time. But she was hungry and thirsty, and extremely tired. But she didn’t feel safe, so she didn’t sleep. She just hoped that the other Avengers were working on getting her out.

 

Clint was becoming increasingly frustrated. Bruce and Tony had been going over the composition of the drug Hart had used to give them their psychic abilities and had deduced it was the cause of their current situation. They guessed it had reacted with the drugs used to keep Natasha in a medically induced coma and dragged the rest of them in. However Bruce figured it should have only lasted as long as they were asleep; they should have been able to wake long ago, but something was keeping them under; and whatever that was clearly wasn't good  
.  
“Natasha! ... Natasha!” Steve called, walking way ahead of the others. 

“Come on Red, where are you?” Tony muttered, rubbing his pounding head

 

After another few hours of searching; Bruce was too tired to go on, Tony was muttering to himself and Clint was desperate to hit something...

“Where are you Tasha?” Clint whispered, to himself more than anyone else; scanning the horizons as Thor helped Bruce back to his feet.

It was the briefest of flashes, but Clint could have sworn he’d seen something... Staring at that one spot intensely, he was sure he saw it again and he set off in a sprint.  
He heard his teammates calling out after him, sensed Steve running behind him but he didn’t remove his eyes from the spot he was sure he’d seen her; a flash of red 

“Natasha!” he shouted, he was sure it was her; so sure and when he finally reached her he fell to his knees beside her; relief and exhaustion hit him all at once, and when Steve reached them; he called back to the others; “we found her!”

“Clint, you’re here?” she asked him weakly, wrapping her arms round his neck as he pulled her into his lap

“I’m here, we’re all here” he confirmed as Thor, Bruce and Tony made their way over

“But how?” she asked, suddenly concerned

“We think it’s something to do we Decoy”

“So how do we get out?”

All five men looked at each other and shrugged; they hadn’t thought that far yet.

And that’s when the nightmares began...


	9. IX

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, a longer chapter for you lovely guys!

The grey mist that was all around them began to swirl and move; forming solid forms. Natasha and Clint scrambled back to their feet as the six of them found themselves in a small, dark cave. Battered and rusting equipment littered the floor and a shoddy looking table under a dimly flickering lamp

“Oh no. Oh no no no” Tony muttered

“What is it?”

“Where are we?”

“My nightmare” Tony muttered, as someone started yelling through the large metal door

“They want you to build a missile?” Natasha translated and Tony nodded

There was gunfire and they all ducked; but not before Clint took a gunshot wound to the shoulder. Natasha tried to apply pressure to his would as it gushed with blood, but Steve pulled her back down as another round of shots rained around them.

The gunmen suddenly disappeared as the ground began to tremble; dust fell from the ceiling as the earthquake grew in strength

Bruce watched Tony closely, knowing his friend suffered from nightmares, but not realising they were so real. Tony was beginning to panic slightly; living his nightmare was very different when he couldn’t wake up. 

The cave began to shrink; walls closing in and roof coming rapidly closer as Tony’s panic level grew

“Wake up, wake up, wake up” he muttered to himself, closing his eyes tightly 

“Tony, Tony!” Steve shouted, desperately trying to get his attention while also being forced to shift his position for lack of room

“Tony, calm down; deep breaths, you get out of this, remember? You beat it, you survive” Bruce told him firmly, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder

As Tony’s breathing settled and he opened his eyes, the six of them were back in the middle of the grey mist; no cave or terrorists in sight and Clint’s gunshot wound disappeared.

“Well, that was... different” Steve commented

 

Back at Shield medical bay they doctors and scientists were all milling around various Avengers, confused as to what was happening. Doctor Hart had been stood by Tony when he’d began hyperventilating, he became tachycardic and his blood pressure shot through the roof, it had subsided after a minute or so, before the team of doctors managed to do anything, but it left them concerned as to the unknown cause. At the same time Clint had flinched on his bed and blood gushed from his shoulder. Another team of medics rushed to his side and dressed the wound, but unlike Tony’s symptoms Clint’s didn’t subside.

 

The team watched as, barely a minute after it had returned, the dark fog started to disappear; replaced by walls of mirrors. It didn’t take long to figure out that they were in a funfair or circus of some kind, leaving everyone certain of whose nightmare they were in this time. 

This time they weren’t together, but scattered over various point in the maze of mirrors; it was dimly lit and incredibly creepy, but they could at least hear each other if they spoke loud enough

“So bird boy, how do we get out of this one?”

“I have't had this dream in years!” Clint muttered

The six of them strolled back and forth, but the maze seemed impossible, it was growing darker and they’d been there for what seemed like hours

There was suddenly a loud bang as one of the mirrors shattered, then another and another. They cracked and exploded randomly around the maze. Bruce ducked as the ceiling length mirror beside him cracked and showered him with glass, tearing his clothes and cutting his skin.

Soon most of the maze was destroyed and the Avengers were all covered in cuts from the shattered glass. 

They were finally able to see the source of the destruction; an older man stood by the entrance of the maze, holding a bow and arrow. It was the man who’d taught Clint to shoot when he’d first joined the circus; he’d told him he had a natural gift and helped him refine his skill, but as Clint got older and better; so good he replaced his mentor in the show, he got jealous, he threatened him; and although he never acted on it, it scared Clint, and he'd often dreamed of the time his mentor would finally snap. 

“Clint down!” Natasha shouted, running to throw her partner down as his old mentor raised his bow and took aim at the bewildered Clint. Natasha’s body slammed into his as they both went down, the arrow catching Natasha and grazing her cheek as she went

Thor punched the guy, who flew through three mirrors before passing out unconscious as the fog returned. 

 

Fury was pushing Hart’s team to fix this, before something terrible happened; which with the Avengers, was bound to happen sooner or later. Clearly whatever was happening to them while they were asleep was affecting them in reality; Natasha now needed stitches on her face and several others were covered in cuts and grazes, Clint was receiving a blood transfusion as the doctors failed to get his bleeding under control and the team looking after them were carefully watching out for whatever was thrown at them next. 

 

They were left in the fog slightly longer this time, mostly sat in silence as they reeled from seeing two of the teams nightmares

Natasha and Clint gripped hands; she knew his nightmares, as he knew hers. And if they were all going to relive the dreams that plagued their nights, who knew what’d be thrown at them next.

 

The floor began to morph into sand, as far as they could see there was nothing else. That was until the earth began to shake and figures emerged from the ground. The figures were long since dead; skeletal and zombie-like, hundreds of them; all surrounding the six Avengers and closing in fast.

“I apologise friends, my mind had brought us to the wastelands”

“What’re the wastelands?” Steve asked, ducking under the arm of one of the figures as it reached out to grab him

Thor punched a few of the zombies back, ripping the arm off one who had grabbed Bruce before answering; “A land of the undead; a place for tortured souls”

“When did you come here?” Clint asked, wishing he had his bow and arrow as he kicked and punched

“I never have, my father told me stories when I was a child. This is what I imagined it to be”

They were surrounded, outnumbered and weaponless. One of the zombies snapped Bruce’s arm back while one got a lucky kick to Natasha’s stomach; the two of them crumpled to ground as it shook and more zombies appeared

“Thor, how do you kill them?” Natasha managed to ask, her cracked ribs protesting as she struggled back to her feet

“I need Mjolnir” 

“You don’t have it! How else?” Clint shouted

“We need to get out of here, how do we get out of here?” Tony asked, thinking back to his own nightmare

“Thor, stop fighting”

“But-“

“No, just stop. Close your eyes calm your breathing. Ignore all this, pretend you’re not here!”

Thor did as he was told, it was difficult not to intervene when he heard his friends fighting, but the sounds subsided and once again they were back in a sea of grey.

“Three down?” Tony commented, as Natasha, Bruce and Steve looked uneasily at one another.


	10. X

The next thing they knew the six of them were ducking for cover as gunfire and explosions reined around them. They were in a dark, cold field by the edge of a forest; covered in mud as orders were shouted overhead

“Steve?”

“Yeah, yeah this is mine” he said, though it was pretty obvious; they were in the middle of a warzone; the Nazi’s mere meters away.

Once again they were weaponless, officers were yelling at them to get out of the way but they were pinned down as the Nazis and Americans exchanged gunfire over their heads

A grenade landed by them just seconds later, and Steve’s training jumped in; he ran towards it as the others watched in disbelief

“Steve no!” Bruce shouted, and watched as Clint kicked the grenade away just in time to prevent Steve throwing himself on it. The explosion sounded a second later as it hit the line of trees which the Nazi’s were using for cover. They scattered, leaving the Avenger’s and the US Army alone

“Nice move” one of the captains patted Clint and Steve on the back, offering them a grateful smile as he faded back to the grey mist the team had become so use to.

 

Once again the grey soon faded and the six found themselves stood in the middle of a school. They were kids; no older than ten, and Tony couldn’t help but laugh at Steve’s small stature, Natasha’s freckles and Clint’s braces

“This isn’t funny Tony” Steve warned, strolling over to Bruce’s side

“I remember this day, we should get-“ he began. But it was too late; an explosion sounded, walls cracked as the building shook and collapsed around them

Clint struggled for breath as dust surrounded him and caught in his throat, Thor was struggling free from debris by his side but there was no sign of the others 

“Natasha? Steve?” he began shouting their names, as did Thor who dug through the debris with surprising speed

They soon found Tony who was badly bruised, and then Natasha who looked a little worse for the ware and in no fit state to help them look for Steve and Bruce, but alive and that was main point. Once they made it back to the greyland their injuries would fade, they just had to get back there... 

They finally found the others but they were both unconscious

“How do we get back if he’s out cold?” Tony asked from where he’d slumped on the ground by Natasha

Natasha muttered something back, but she was close to unconsciousness too and no one heard what she’d said

“Damn it, come on Bruce. Wake up” Clint coaxed gently, over and over until his eyes finally flickered open

“You can do this Banner, take us back” Thor whispered, and once Bruce realised what had happened, when his memory came flooding back he took a deep breath, closed his eyes and concentrated.

 

The mist reappeared, but it lasted barely a second before it moulded itself into a new location once again. 

 

Now the six superheroes found themselves stood in the bottom of an old, empty swimming pool. It has certainly seen better days; the tiles were chipped and the walls were grimy. Each of them found their ankles shackled together, attached to a chain bolted to the floor.

Natasha’s eyes flashed to Clint as the other four looked around in confusion

“I’m sorry” she whispered, her eyes downcast as water began to bubble up through one of the drains in the floor and the pool began to fill. Realisation soon dawned on the others that with them chained to the base of the pool; they’d all drown if they didn’t get out soon enough

“Natasha, it’s just a dream” Clint reminded her gently

“No, not it’s not”

“What do you-“ Tony began, but stopped when his mind caught up; this wasn’t just one of Natasha’s nightmares; an exaggeration of a memory, twisted and contorted like his and Clint’s and Thor’s. This had actually happened and could quite possibly kill them all; Tony found himself thinking about that old saying; ‘If you die in a dream, you die in reality’ and contemplated just how strange his life now was...

The water was filling up fast, it was freezing, and they were fast running out of time

Clint and Steve tried their best to calm Natasha, but as hard as she tried she couldn’t get them out of it; she was in too deep; her mind too bogged down with drugs and she couldn’t fight it

All Natasha could do was apologize over and over as the freezing water got deeper

Soon they were all treading water, and Natasha was no closer to calming down. She spluttered as the water reached her mouth and she struggled for breath. Once again, being the shortest had its downfalls

The others were too far away to help; the chains looped round their legs kept them out of reach of each other while they were struggling to stay afloat and nothing they did could free their ankles from their binds

The team could do nothing as Natasha’s air supply was cut off as the water level went over her head

They fought, and they kicked and they tried, but all attempts failed.

 

Aboard the hellicarrier the medics weren’t able to do anything for Natasha; her sats were falling rapidly, heart was racing, her temperature plummeted and she became hypertensive; she wasn’t breathing, but no matter what they tired they couldn’t get her to. Even inbuating didn’t help, it was as if the oxygen just wasn’t getting through and there was nothing to explain why. Soon all the machines and monitors were alarming when her heart stopped.

 

The chains and the water disappeared as the Avengers found themselves back in the grey mist, but unlike all the previous times the damage hadn’t been reversed; Natasha wasn’t breathing...


	11. XI

“Natasha! Natasha! Come on Tasha, don’t leave me? Don't you dare!” Clint begged, scrambling to her side; he gripped her hand and stroked her face, desperate to wake up and for this nightmare to be over.

Steve was by his side in a second, performing CPR as the others watched on; helpless and terrified.

 

Back on the hellicarrier; Pepper was crying, Phil was frantic and Fury was shouting. Not only was Natasha dying, but Hart expressed concerned that if she died while the others were caught up in her unconscious, they’d never get out.

Hill let out an undignified shriek as Thor reached out and grabbed her hand; everyone in the room was so focused on the attempts to restart Natasha’s heart that no one had noticed him wake.

Jane ran over and threw herself into his arms, holding her tight he watched somberly as the doctors gave up; “time of death 12.09”

 

“Come on Natasha, don’t give up” Tony begged. Clint was crying, Bruce had slumped on the floor; no longer possessing the strength to remain upright. Steve was still working, desperately trying to bring Natasha back, and refusing to give up. 

After what seemed like forever Natasha gasped and choked out the water that had filled her lungs. Her body felt battered and heavy, but she felt Clint pulling her closer and Steve gripping her hand. Head pounding and chest aching, but still breathing; and this was just how she remembered it...

 

Several minutes after time of death had been called, Natasha took an uneasy breath. Pepper was so beside herself with grief that she was sure she’d imagined it.   
Thor was busy updating the doctors and scientists about what had happened, all attention had been on him as he described reliving the nightmares and memories which plagued his teammates. He was shocked to learn the injuries carried through to reality after they’d faded in the dream; Clint’s bullet wound, the laceration on Natasha’s cheek, the cuts and bruises and broken bones which they'd all received as a result from the collapsing school in Bruce's nightmare; they were all still present.

Pepper couldn’t help but not listen, it wasn’t fair; Natasha had just died and no one was paying attention, so she’d removed herself from the company of the others and sat by her friend. The monitors were switched off for there was no use for them anymore and Pepper found the silence almost too much to bare. Sobs shook her whole body as she took in the enormity of what had happened, and that’s why she was sure she’d imagined it. But when another desperate intake of air passed Natasha’s lips Pepper couldn’t ignore it

“Guys! Guys!” she shouted urgently, causing the others to spill back into the room

“She’s not dead!”

Pepper was the subject of more than a few sympathetic gazes as Phil approached her

“Pepper, I know you want her to be alive, we all do. And it breaks my heart that we lost her, but we have to accept the fact that she’s gone, or we can’t grieve”

“Phil, no she’s-“

“Miss Potts, perhaps it’s time you took a break and went to get some rest” Fury suggested, and Pepper became angry

“She’s alive! I swear she’s alive! Stop looking at me like I’m crazy and will someone just check?”

She stared as Hart shook his head slightly, and his team of doctors stayed where they were. Pepper getting frustrated and was about to start shouting when Jane took a step forward, hoping beyond hope that Pepper was right, but continuously reminding herself not to get her hopes up, she couldn't face the despair if she had to lose Natasha again.

It took a few minutes, but just as Jane was about to give up but she felt it; a weak, thready pulse. She flipped all the machines back on and they showed an irregular, brady heart rate. As everyone looked on in disbelief it continued to improve as she took deeper, stronger breaths

“But... But she was _dead_!” Dr Hart managed to sound, as Fury smiled and Phil shook his head in disbelief; “I never should have doubted you” he whispered to his agent, bending low to kiss her on the forehead “But don’t _ever_ do that to me again” he instructed firmly

 

“Hey where’d Point Break go?” Tony asked after a moment. It had taken him a while to comprehend anything other than the overwhelming relief that flooded over him not Natasha was breathing again

The other’s looked round to see Thor had disappeared

“Maybe he got out somehow?” Bruce thought out loud

“But how?”

“Well his nightmare seemed to affect him the least... We got out of his the fastest. Maybe Decoy has less of a hold on him?”

 

Hart was frowning as he read over the data. Now Thor was somehow back, and Natasha had come back from the dead; there was a lot of pressure on him to get the others out before anything else happened. Thor’s description of the Greyland was something no one needed to go through, and the team of superheroes had more to be scared of than most.


	12. XII

They barely had a few minutes before a soft wind picked up and once again the grey mist started to swirl around them. Clint looked down at the barely conscious Natasha in his arms and cursed under his breath;

“Not again, not yet”

It was getting cold, really cold, and as he stood; lifting Natasha with him, he knew just where he was

“Oh no, not here... Anywhere but here”

Tony, Steve and Bruce had no idea what was going on; they looked around as the swirling grey mist faded into snow

“Your nightmare?” Bruce asked

“Worse; a memory. This is Budapest”

Clint stood, readjusting Natasha in his arms as injuries appeared on her body; a knife wound down her right side, a bullet lodged in her ribs and another in her shoulder... In exactly the same places as the scars that now resided there; right where the same injuries had been present twelve years ago when they’d first met...

They were suddenly surrounded, being screamed at by angry Russians aiming guns right at them, and there at the centre of it all, was Ivan Petrovitch; Natasha’s former handler during her time at the red room

Just seeing him was enough to make Clint’s blood boil 

The snow began to fall faster, the sky darkened and more Russian’s joined those already pointing guns at them

“What are they waiting for?” Steve asked, confused. There was no way they didn’t have a clear shot from where they stood

“They’re waiting for me to hand over Natasha” Clint said angrily

Steve took a step into a protective position in front of Clint and Natasha

“What’s our move? How do we play this?” 

“Clint you need to calm down” Bruce warned as the marksmen all tightened their grips on their weapons

“I am, I’m trying” Clint said, but this memory was just too raw; losing Natasha was too much to bear, and having just watched her drown, it was not something he was ready to face again

“Urgh my head!” Clint complained, stumbling slightly as he clenched his eyes shut

Steve took Natasha from his arms before he fell to his knees clutching his head in his hands

“Clint?” Bruce asked, moving to his side as Ivan took a step forward. 

“I can’t fight it, it’s too much” he stuttered as blood started to pour from his nose

“Clint, come on man; we’re gonna be executed if you don’t get us out of here” Tony said, glancing round nervously as the men all aimed their weapons

Clint forced his eyes open, for just a moment to look at his team, at Natasha, before closing them again and concentrating; through the pain and through the fear.

Just as the sound of thirty simultaneous gun shots could be heard; everything faded away. Grey mist was once again swirling at their feet as they returned to the Greylands

“Oh thank God!” Tony gasped, sliding to the floor beside Clint with relief

Clint looked over to see the bullet wounds and knife mark had disappeared from Natasha as she began to stir in Steve’s arms

“How the hell did you get out of that one for real?” Tony asked Clint; finally knowing why Clint really wasn't overly fond of Budapest, but failing to understand why Natasha liked it so much...

“I didn’t... Natasha did” Clint answered

 

“You fail to comprehend what I’m telling you!” Thor said to Doctor Hart. “We were not in Lady Natasha’s mind, we were all in one another’s” he reiterated to the doctor, who didn’t seem to be listening

“How did you get out?” he asked abruptly

“I do not know; I awoke following the resolution of Lady Natasha’s memory”

He made some notes before Jane approached with a handful of paperwork;

“Doctor Hart, I’ve been looking at your experimental data and-”

“I would prefer it if you didn’t Doctor Foster, Project Decoy represents my life’s work, it is private”

“That’s not up to you Hart” Fury added, walking into the room

“How are the others?” Thor asked

“Romanoff just took two bullets and got stabbed, while Barton was so scared he practically had a heart attack; I don't know what the hell is going on, but I want answers Hart! And you're certainly not giving me any! What have you found Doctor Foster?”

“I was just wondering how you calculated the doses of the drug you gave each of the Avengers?” Jane directed at Doctor Hart

“Excuse me?”

“I just, I noticed each of them had a different dose of the drug; the levels vary enormously so I just wondered why?”

“It was based on their brain scans; and how susceptible we thought they'd be to the drug” Hart answered eventually when Fury glared at him

“That’s why some are closer to consciousness than the others?” Darcy asked, having followed Fury into the back room along with Agent Hill

“Who’s got the most of Decoy?” Hill asked, although she had a funny feeling she already knew the answer...

“It was Agent Romanoff, she got the highest dose" Jane answered when Doctor Hart didn't

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The events in this chapter (Clint's memories of Budapest) loosely relate to the events in my fic 'The Road to Here', if anyone is interested :)


	13. XIII

“I need more brain scans Fury”

“I just gave you the brain scans we have Dr Foster”

“I don’t trust them, I want new ones”

“What are you implying Jane?” Agent Hill asked carefully. She’d had her own suspicions, but had hoped they were nothing more than her paranoid, overworked brain seeing a conspiracy where there was none

Jane glanced back over her shoulder, peering round at who was within earshot before answering; “Something isn’t right here, someone is hiding something”

“You’re talking about Hart?” Thor questioned, thankfully for once keeping quiet

“You really think this is all on purpose?” Darcy asked, somewhat surprised

“He’s evasive; he doesn’t answer my questions, he’s unwilling to work with anyone outside of his team and he seemed overly annoyed that Thor woke up. He’s stalling, and I want to know why”

“But if Hart’s dirty, what about his team? Do we trust them?”

“Right now, I don’t trust any of them”

 

Natasha had finally come round, and was sat with Clint on the ground, leaning into his shoulder while she tried to process what had just happened, while Tony and Bruce talked science a few feet away. Steve stood watch over his team; it had been at least ten minutes since they’d lived through the last nightmare, and it was the longest respite they’d had since this whole thing had begun.

Steve noticed it first, the mist moving and changing. He took a step closer to his team as Clint and Natasha climbed to their feet, and Bruce and Tony stopped talking

“Who’s turn is it this time?” Tony questioned to no one in particular, as Clint gripped Natasha’s hand in his and Bruce took a step closer to the group

They found themselves in downtown Harlem; building crumbled as people fled, and where Bruce was once stood, was now the Hulk.

The other four took a few steps back as soldiers charged forward, weapons raised and aimed, shouting orders yet clearly scared by his presence

The Hulk roared, his anger levels increasing as Bruce’s control of him waned

They looked around at them at the devastation he had caused, and for the first time they really understood why Bruce was so scared about losing control; why he didn’t drink, or like crowded places, why he refused missions if he didn’t deem it completely necessary and why he always backed down from arguments.

“Bruce? Bruce?” someone was shouting, Natasha turned to see a woman with long dark hair rushing over, darting in between the soldiers and police officers to get closer “Bruce?”

The Hulks eyes turned sad, for just a second before he turned and ran off 

“How do we get out of this one?” Clint asked, looking to Tony as the Hulk disappeared into the distance

 

“Can you see here?” Jane said, pointing to an area on Tony’s latest brain scan 

Pepper, Darcy and Thor nodded, all leaning in closer to have a look

“This is the amygdala, and it’s where Decoy is targeting its secondary effects”

“Secondary?”

“Yeah, the primary effects of the drug therapy are seen here, in the Wernicke’s area of the cerebral cortex. This is what it was intended for; to allow non verbal communication between the team, however the drugs have also been affecting the amygdala, I think that’s what’s causing the nightmares. The amygdala plays an important role in regulating fear and anxiety, and while they’re unconscious, Decoy is able to access the nightmares and memories they can normally ignore”

“Doctor Foster, I need to know. Do you think this was intentional?” Fury asked, glancing over to where Doctor Hart was working, monitoring Natasha's vitals after her latest injuries

“Intentional? I don’t know, but if the scientists were doing their jobs properly they should have discovered these side effects long before the team were administered with the drug. So either they ignored it on purpose, or they’re just really rubbish at their job”

Fury sighed; “Agent Hill, go get back up. We’re gonna need some empty cells”

 

The four Avengers made their way through the city, dodging overturned cars, collapsed building and torn up roads

“Do you think that girl was Betty?” Steve asked, climbing over the remains of a toy store

“Yes” Natasha answered simply 

“Tony, do you reckon you can talk Bruce down? We’ve no hope of getting out of here with him still big and green” Clint asked

“Maybe we shouldn’t, maybe we should stay here?” Tony wondered, looking around for Bruce and wondering where on earth he'd found to hide the other guy... Unless he wasn't the other guy anymore?

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we’re not in any immediate danger here, and who knows what we’ll be going into next if we go back there”

“I don’t know Tony, it seems to me the longer we stay in a dream, the harder it is on the host. Look at Clint this time, and Tasha... I don’t think we want to stay here any longer than we have to. Plus, after the first cycle Thor woke up, maybe if we make it through another someone else will wake?"

"We're assuming he woke up, he could be anywhere..."


	14. XIV

“Watch out!” Steve shouted, pushing Clint and Natasha out of the way as a jeep landed where they’d just been stood. Tony looked up, terrified, to see The Hulk lifting another car and aiming at them. He dove out of the way at the last minute, before running over to help Clint pull Steve out from under the crushed car. Steve was unconscious and an awful amount of blood spilled down his face as they continued to try and free him

The Hulk roared again angrily, charging forward at them 

“Bruce!” Betty shouted again, distracting him long enough for Clint and Tony to sling Steve’s arms over their shoulders and drag him away from the wreckage

Natasha watched Betty closely as she said something she couldn’t hear. Their surroundings began to dissolve around them as the Hulk cried out...

The four superheroes found themselves back in the expansive grey nothingness... With one very absent friend

 

Chaos erupted in the medical room as the Hulk appeared, roaring at the scientists stood beside him, the bed Bruce had previously occupied was thrown to the floor as the Hulk turned and charging at Doctor Hart, who was in handcuffs and about to be lead down to the containment cells.

Hill was fast, and took down the Hulk with a well timed tranquiliser dart just as Hart fainted...

“For someone who likes to terrify people, he can’t hold his own” Maria commented, nudging his unconscious form where it lay on the floor with her foot, desperate to kick him a little harder but deciding it would be unprofessional.

The Hulk had already given way to Bruce, who was out cold on the floor.

“Friend Banner! You have returned to us!” Thor shouted happily, running over 

“He’ll be out of it for a little while yet Thor, help me get him over to the bed”

 

“W-what happened to Bruce?” Steve asked, suddenly waking

“That’s what I’d like to know” Tony muttered, looking round at the miles and miles of nothing

“But we didn’t do another full cycle... I thought that’s how this was supposed to work?” Clint asked

“It was just a theory, I guess we’re not playing by the rules”

They were still discussing whether the fact that Thor and Bruce were no longer here anymore was a good or a bad thing when it all started again...

Their surrounding morphed into what looked like an old, run down operating room. The four of them found themselves strapped to uncomfortable metal chairs; their hands, feet and arms bound, their heads secured in place and each wearing a mouth guard. They barely had time to comprehend who’s dream they were in when a machine was flipped on and they each felt excruciating pain coursing through them. The electric shocks built in waves, easing off slightly before intensifying once more. The lights flickered as the machine drained the old building of its power

“ _That is enough_ ” came a distant voice of a man, who stepped out of the shadows;a man they all recognised from Clint’s nightmare earlier; Ivan Petrovitch

“ _You shall no disobey me again_ ” he instructed harshly, before turning to nod and someone and the machine was flicked back on.

Tony felt the overwhelming urge to just give up, and as someone who had actually died before; he could honestly say this was much, much worse 

The machine was flipped off again, thankfully. As Ivan paced back and forth in front of them, Clint struggled to glance over at Natasha, knowing there was nothing he, or the others, could say to her to help her

Her knuckles were white as she clenched her fists, breathing heavily; she had to remind herself over and over that this was no longer her life, she’d made it out, it wasn’t real... Over and over; she knew it wasn’t real, knew Ivan was dead; she’d killed him herself, but she couldn’t shake the nightmares as easily as the others. She was in deep, being dragged down deeper and deeper while her nightmares consumed her

A garbled shout came from Tony’s direction as Ivan headed back towards the controls. He knew what was coming, and he couldn’t take it...

Natasha suddenly panicked about what the electricity could do to his arc reactor

She closed her eyes and forced herself to focus. She missed the malicious smirk on Ivan’s face as he switched the machine back on as she worked hard to filter out the pain, concentrate her life now; her team, her home, Clint...

The next thing she knew Clint was shaking her shoulders, worriedly calling her name. They were back where they’d started; hardly an improvement, but at least she’d survived this time

“Wow, they really did a number on you” Tony commented sympathetically

Natasha climbed to her feet and took a short walk away from the others

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-“ Tony began

“It’s okay Tony. She just needs a minute to be alone” Clint reassured him, knowing she’d have walked away whether Stark had said anything or not. They'd all seen more of her past than she'd ever willingly let them

 

Back on the hellicarrier, Bruce was finally coming round

“Bruce? Bruce? You’re awake!” Darcy shouted a little too loudly, causing him to grimace and cover his face with his hands

“Right, sorry, volume down. Got it” 

“What happened?” he asked looking round, disappointed that his friends weren’t also awake

“Jane’s working on it, but she could probably use your help”

Bruce nodded, climbing to his feet and following Darcy to another room where Jane was trying to explain something to a confused looking Pepper

“Oh thank God” Jane said in relief as Bruce entered. He smiled shyly before looking at the piece of paper in her hand

“What we got home skillet?” Darcy asked, jumping up to sit on the desk 

“As far as I can figure out, the Hulk wasn’t so happy with whatever was going on in your head. He dragged you out” Jane informed Bruce

Bruce nodded sadly; “I was going to hurt them, I had no control and the more I tried to stop, the closer I got... How are the others?” he asked, quickly changing the topic

Pepper shrugged; “They’re pretty beaten up” was all she said, her eyes glancing back to Tony who, only moments ago, had been shouting and writing in pain. His heart racing along with the others'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Writing in Italics is spoken in Russian, but since they're in Natasha's dream, the others can understand it too_


End file.
